A different kind of recommendation question

I've owned a pair of VR-4 tower speakers for going on 22 years. Had the VR-5/7 upgrade done to them probably 16 years ago. I absolutely love them. Have compared them to multiple speakers in the $12K to $20K range and have yet to find anything better.

However life happens and I'm moving into a much smaller apartment. The living room is only 12' wide and it looks highly unlikely that I will have sufficient space for the VR-4s. I've found that they sound best when positioned at least 2' from the back wall and that's going to put my listening position no more than about 6' (or less) from the speakers. Not optimal and would make the living room seem more like a hallway.

So I may need to look around at bookshelf / monitor speakers. With a budget of just $5K. Not adverse to buying used.

It will be very difficult to give up that Von Schweikert sound. Any recommendations as to what monitor speakers out there which best produce a VS-type sound signature? I do have a rare pair of Von Schweikert VM-2 monitors, but they fall well short. Used them as side channels in a 5.1 setup for a while.

You may want to take a look at the VR-33 (New) or the VR-35 (Used). They are designed to be placed very close to the rear wall and image nicely. They won't play quite as low as the VR-5/7 upgrade but you may like them. I replaced my VR-4 Gen II's with VR-33's due to my smallish living room and in this space I would not go back to my VR-4's.

Why not try your speakers first. I have VR7 HSE in a near field setup and placement made a huge difference. I do have vaulted ceilings which help, but I wouldn't let these go without trying every arrangement possible. My wife thought they would over power our room and they actually gave the room the symmetry it needed.

I estimate that from the front of the speakers to the front of my coach will be about 5'. That's pretty near field and quite dominating in terms of how the room is laid out. 8' ceiling. Not much room for these speakers to "breathe." Less than most bedrooms.